Christie: Meant to be governor now, not ready for White House

The final question from the audience — well, an implied question anyway — of the five fielded by Gov. Chris Christie following his speech last Friday night at Princeton University came from a woman who encouraged Christie to run for president.

It was an interesting answer that followed — all notes Christie has sounded before, though rarely to that level of detail or length. Much as he sought months back (without success) to tamp down speculation he might run in 2012 by joking he’d commit suicide first, he seemed to be deploying lines even ardent supporters would recognize as difficult for him to walk back should he reverse course: “I’m not ready to be president. … If I were ever at this moment just elevated to the presidency, I would be filled with self-doubt. And you can’t lead if you have self-doubt.”

The exchange came back to mind over the weekend, when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels surprised many by announcing he wouldn’t seek the Republican nomination for president, a family-driven decision that instantly upped the pressure on Christie to revisit his own refusal to become a candidate. He reiterated Tuesday that he will not.

A transcript of Christie’s answer to the Princeton question is below the video. (If the video vanishes, let me know — I’ve been having quirky coding problems.) To watch it, you can fast forward to 56:33, or click here to jump right to that spot …

Audience member: “Thank you, governor, for a very insightful talk. May I say: We love you in New Jersey, but we would love you even more in the White House.”

Christie: “People are coming up with all new ways to ask that question. Listen, let me be for the 354th time as absolutely clear as I can be. I appreciate it, and it’s very flattering. It really is. And for somebody like me who literally — I had lunch today with a friend of mine who helped work on our campaign. He came down to the Statehouse to have lunch with me today. And he was talking to me about the Time 100 thing — the hundred most influential people in the world. Well, when that magazine came out, I was one of the people on the cover. And when the magazine came to our house, my 15-year-old daughter was the first one to get it, and she looked and she said, ‘The world?’ (Laughter.) Nothing like your teenage daughter to bring you immediately back to earth.

“And this friend of mine said, ‘You know, this is all so amazing.’ This guy I’ve been friends with for a long time. He said, ‘It’s all so amazing. Think about where we were two years ago.’ Two years ago at this time, I was in a contentious Republican primary against an opponent who didn’t think I was really conservative. And now I’ve got a whole bunch of people who think I’m too conservative. It’s interesting the way life goes in New Jersey. But people (were) saying that there’s no chance even if he wins the primary that he’s going to win the general election. This is New Jersey. We’ve got 700,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. I was running against an incumbent governor. We had not elected a Republican statewide in 12 years, and we haven’t elected a Republican United States senator since 1972. So I think it’s safe to say that kind of the Vegas odds on me being here were pretty long, especially when you’re running against an incumbent who’s going to outspend you 3-to-1, with $30 million of his own money.

“I tell you this because I don’t ever lose perspective on that. And while I’m really flattered by your comment and by the comments and questions about running for president of the United States that lots of people have been giving me over the last couple of months, I know who I am. And I was meant for this job, at this time. And this is the job I asked for. And I’m not going to leave this job until it’s finished. And that’s the obligation that I took when I asked for your vote.

“And I can’t — that would be like, I’m married for 25 years. My wife and I are college sweethearts. And we got married right out of college, when I was still in law school. I got her when she was really young and she didn’t know any better. And it would be like that guy who’s been married for 25 years and then all of a sudden, you know, the woman who’s, you know, half his age turns his head and he says, ‘Well she’s, you know, 23 — why not?’

“I made a commitment to this place now, and just because there’s a bit of a siren song being sung from the Potomac — I know who I am. I made a commitment here, I’m going to keep my commitment here. And I also know something else: I’m not ready to be president. And I have people make all kinds of arguments to me about, well, President Obama’s experience or President Bush’s experience or President Clinton’s experience. You see, you miss the point. All those men decided that they looked in the mirror, and in their heart they felt they were ready. Unless and until you can do that, you have no business, in my opinion, in asking for anybody’s vote. And I know I’m not ready. And the worst thing in the world — people say to me, ‘You could win.’ And I say, ‘Well yeah, I know I could win.’ But that’s like the dog catching the garbage truck, right? What happens if I actually catch it? (Laughter.) And I win. You know, that’s when things really start to get nerve-wracking.

“I’ll end with this. Rich (Bagger) and Andrew (Sidamon-Eristoff) were both with me the day I walked into the Governor’s Office for the first time, on Jan. 20th of 2010. And when we walked into that office for the first day, I can tell you I did not have a moment of self-doubt that I was ready. I had been U.S. Attorney for seven years. I had made lots of hard decisions. I had campaigned hard in an uphill race for the job. I knew what I believed and who I was, and I knew what I wanted to do for New Jersey. And I think that I’ve been able to govern the way I’ve governed, aggressively, because I’m not filled with self-doubt. I will tell you that if I were ever at this moment just elevated to the presidency, I would be filled with self-doubt. And you can’t lead if you have self-doubt. It’s different than introspection. We all should have introspection. It’s different.

“So if I ever run for president of the United States, I’ll run at that moment when I look in the mirror and say to myself, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready. If I win, I’m ready.’ It shouldn’t be the other way around. It shouldn’t be, ‘I could win, so I hope I’m ready.’ It should be, ‘I’m ready, now I hope I can win.’ And until I get myself in that spot, if I ever do, until that comes, I’m not going to do — no matter how attractive it is and no matter how wonderful it is. You know, people say to me all the time, ‘Well gosh, you’re getting tired of it, the question, aren’t you, Governor? I mean, geez, people ask you all the time, you keep saying no, and people keep asking you.’ I’m like, ‘What kind of pompous ass would you have to be to say, ‘Oh, it’s so tiring. (Laughter.) I’m so weary and worn from people asking me, ‘Please, won’t you be the leader of the free world? (Laughter.) Please won’t you move to the White House?’ I mean, how pompous and self-important do you have to be?

“It is extraordinarily flattering, as someone who loves this country and believes in everything that we’ve stood and fought for, to even be thought of in that way. But I can’t allow flattery to get in the way of common sense, and I can’t allow opportunity to trump my own good judgment. And so that’s why I say no. I say no because in my heart, as much as my ego might want to say yes, my heart tells me no. And so I think I owe it to the people of this state to keep the commitment I made to them in 2009. And I think I owe it to myself and to my family to not ever ask them to go into that endeavor until I can look at them and look at myself and say, ‘I’m ready, and my country needs me.'”

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About Michael Symons

Michael Symons has covered seven governors while working in Gannett's Statehouse Bureau -- a stint which actually only stretches back to 2000, but the door revolves quickly in New Jersey politics. He's co-author of the biography "Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power."

2 Responses to Christie: Meant to be governor now, not ready for White House

Evidently these pro-Christie zealots fail to realize that the only reason Christie’s name is being bantied about even more is because ALL of the first choice candidates have bowed out. I voted for Christie as Governor because of the “illusion” he created as an anti-corruption prosecutor. Now I wouldn’t even vote for him even if he ran for dog catcher.

About the Authors

Bob JordanBob Jordan has covered state, county and muncipal governments for the past 10 years. He has also covered the gaming industry and has been a sports team beat writer for NHL, NBA and major league baseball teams.E-mail Bob

John SchoonejongenJohn Schoonejongen is state editor for Gannett New Jersey newspapers. He has reported and edited at New Jersey newspapers from Salem County to Passaic County, writing about everything from state politics to lost pigs on the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Born in Camden County, he still speaks with a southern New Jersey accent, much to his wife's annoyance.E-mail John

Michael SymonsMichael Symons has covered seven governors while working in Gannett's Statehouse Bureau -- a stint which actually only stretches back to 2000, but the door revolves quickly in New Jersey politics. He's co-author of the biography "Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power."E-mail Michael